UK's Trade Minister visits New Zealand to talk trade after Brexit

September 16, 2019

Liz Truss, who arrived in Wellington this morning, will also be meeting with Deputy PM Winston Peters.

In preparation for trade negotiations after Brexit, UK's International Trade Secretary Liz Truss is visiting New Zealand today, along with Australia and Japan over the next week.

Ms Truss will meet her counterparts, as well senior government figures and businesses, in each country to ensure trade negotiations can begin rapidly.

She is expected to land in Wellington today, before meeting with Trade Minister David Parker and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.

Tomorrow she will head to Sydney, then Canberra on Wednesday and Tokyo on Friday.

A statement from the Department for International Trade said the UK government was "strongly committed" to securing ambitious and high-quality free trade agreements with New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the US, as well as potentially joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).  

The UK is one of New Zealand’s largest trading partners and UK investors are the fifth largest source of foreign direct investment in the country. The Department for International Trade has helped many businesses to secure contracts to export their goods and services to New Zealand.

"As the UK prepares to leave the EU on 31 October, we look forward to taking back control of our trade policy and negotiating new free trade agreements," Ms Truss said in a statement. 

"I am visiting some of our most like-minded trade partners this week to send a clear message: the UK is an open, welcoming business destination and we are ready to trade.  

"There is massive political willingness from our trading partners to negotiate ambitious new trade agreements that will benefit people throughout the whole of the UK. We look forward to beginning negotiations shortly."  

Despite already strong trade links, there are still trade barriers holding British businesses back. Some UK exporters face tariff barriers in supplying the New Zealand market, including tariffs which are between 5 and 10 per cent on automotive and machinery sectors. 

A new FTA would help make British businesses more competitive compared to those in countries that already have trade agreements with New Zealand, the statement said.

The UK government’s negotiating strategy will draw on one of the largest public consultations in British history - involving more than 146,000 people and organisations sharing their views about a future UK-New Zealand free trade agreement.  

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